Freight container



Marci. 24, 1936.

B. F. FITCH FREIGHT CONTAINER 5 Sheets-'Sheet 1 I Filed June lO, 1931FIG.;

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l Wma vlvL-uch 24, 1936. B 'E TCH FREIGHT CONTAINER Filed June 10, 1931s sheets-sheet 2 NYG. 5

Q @mi 6MM anca/M4410 March 24, 1936. B. F. FITCH FREIGHT CONTAINER FiledJune lO, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 75Min PatenterhMar.' 24, Y 1936 UNITEDSTATES PATENT" OFI-ica marcar commen Benjamin'F. Fitch, Greenwich,Conn., assigner to` Motor Terminals Company, Wilmingto A a corporationoi' Delaware Application June 10, 1931, Serial No. 543,280

2 Claims. (Cl. 98-87) danger of loss or breakage of package freight.

For such' purposes I have developed a veryeflicient demountable body,which forms the subject matter of my priorapplication Serial No.500,160, filed December 5th, 1930.

Such demountable bodies may be employedfor the handling of perishablegoods, fruits, etc., and

in such cases it is sometimes desired to provide means for continuouslyVentilating the container while it is in transit. The present inventionis concerned with very 'simple and effective means for causingsuchrventilation. By employing hollow doors, which may be made of trussplate, instead of solid doors shown in my application referred to, andby making suitable openings through such doors, I arrange to insure adraft of air into the body, which receives its exit by means of spacesat the eaves. The lopenings through'the doors are so arranged that anyaccess of waterto the interior through them is impossible. Furthermore,the position of the.

discharge into the container serves to direct the lincoming air over thetop of the merchandise, rwhich carries away the .moisture arisingtherefrom, and prevents deleterious action.

. My ventilation provision in no way interferes with the present use ofthe body for ordinary package freight, but makes it more adaptable incase of perishable freight. However, I provide means whereby the draftmay be shut oil, if it should be desired to avoid the same in anyparticular instance.

My invention is illustrated in the drawings hereof, and is hereinaftermore fully explained in connection with these drawings.' and-the esfsential features are summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a railway flat car,carrying two of my demountable bodies, each having doors equipped withmy ventilation provision. Fig. 2 is an end view of one 4.5 of thebodies, illustrating it as it is being lifted from or lowered onto thecar. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through one of the end doors andadjacent parts of the container, as indicated by the line 3-3 on 2. Fig.4 is avertical section of the 50 upper portion of one of the doors. 5 isa vertical section from the interior of the container looking toward theend doors. Fig. 6 is a. detail adjacent the eaves, being averticalsection substantially on the line li-6 on Fig. 5. Fig. 'l -is alrertical section from the interior of car lool;-

ing toward a pair of end doors of somewhat different construction.Figs.`8 and 9 are, respectively, a vertical section and a horizontalsection through the doors of Fig'. '7, as indicated bythe correspondinglines thereon.l Fig. 10 is a view of 5 the upper portion of such door asshown in Fig. 7, but` illustrating a different form of draft control;Fig. 11 is a vertical section on the line II-II in` Fig. 10.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates a 10 suitable fiat car,equipped with positioning devices a, (shown as external corner'brackets, though projections adapted to engage sockets beneath thecontainer floor might be used); B

'indicates a demountable body adapted to 'be 15 placed on the car andlocated by means of these positioning devices. The bodyB has a suitablebase frame I0, coniposed of suitable structural shapes, this` base framecarrying a flooring II. Suitable side walls 20 I2 and end walls I3 risefrom the base frame and carry a roof I5, formed of corrugated metal, ar-

ranged in an arch and with the serpentine lines thereof extendinglongitudinally, thus presenting. a succession of downwardly facingtransverse 25- troughs terminating at the eaves; These roof Y sheets I5are carried by suitable arched cross bars I6, secured to the'side walls.The top portion of -each side wall has an inwardly bent eave plate Il,lying beneath the corrugated roof, and thus 30 there are a series ofventilation spaces at the two eaves above the eave plate I 1 and leadingto the outside of the container. Alongitudinal wooden protection stripI8 is mounted above the Aroof sheets in this region to prevent possibledamage 35 to the edge portions of the roof sheets, or crush- Y ingof thecorrugation, which might reduce the ventilation spaces.

The doors of my container designated 20, may

becomposed of a pair of sheets of metal 2| and 'i0 22, which areinwardly indented in isolated regions, the indentations beingelectrically welded or otherwise securedtogether at points where theindentations of one sheet come into contact with the facing indentationsofthe opposite sheet, thereby making what is known vas a truss plate.Around the margins of the doon-woodenfiller strips 25 are insertedbetween the two metal sheets, and such composite construction at themargin is -protected by a channel-shaped reinforcing metal member 26,which passes acrossv the outer edge of theA ller strip and the outersides of the adjacent truss sheets. Suitable rivets 31, extendingthrough the reinforcing member,

3l, secured to the outer face of the wall and then having an inwardlyextending web, and ilnally a projecting flange, as illustrated in Fig.3. The edges of the doors come close to the Z-bar webs, while the innerfaces of the doors adjacent 'the edges substantially abut the Z-baranges. Thus there is a substantially weathertight connectionbetween thedoors and container walls.

To provide for the draft through such a container as described, withoutdanger of damage from water, I form a set of openings through the outerdoor sheet 2 I, in its lower region and a set of openings 4| through theinner vdoor sheet 22 in its upper region, so that the air may pass intothe lower portion of the hollow door, up-

wardly in the door and then from the upper portion of the door intothecontainer, and thence out through the eave spaces I3, provided by thecorrugated roof. The inwardly discharging openings 4| are arranged onlthe upper portion of the door so that the draft is across the top ofthe perishable goods within the container,- where the draft is mosteiective in7 preventing deterioration.

To prevent accumulation, within the door, of water which might passthrough the openings 40, I form draining openings l5 through the bottomller strip 25 and the bottom, channel member 26.

When a car carrying the bodies, having doors as described, is in motion,there will be considerable draft into the openings 40 of the end doors,which will be discharged into the body through the openings 4l andthence pass out at the sides through the eaves. 'I'here likewise will bsome draft ordinarily into the side doors on one or the other side ofthe container, which will enter the body and pass out through ftheeaves, and.

the air thus moving willprovideeifective ventilation for perishablegoods without any chance of goods being damaged by entrance of water.

As it is sometimes desired, particularly in cold weather, to cl'ose theVentilating openingsin the doors, I provide each ventilated door with asuitable closure mechanism operable at will. 'I'his/closure-mechanismvaries according to the door construction; three forms of it are shownin the drawings, which will now be described.

In the doors illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and `5, I provide within eachdoor a closure slide 50, which stands within the door behind thedischarge openings Il and has a set of 'openings 5I which may registerwith the openings 4I. By shoving the slide longitudinally, the openingsof the slide are carried out of registration with the door openings 4|,so that the latter are closed. The slide may be readilyoperated by cmeans of a suitable knob 53, which has a'shank passing through a slot 52`in the door, the Ainner end of the shank being secured to the slide.

To prevent inadvertent 'displacement of the slide, I form the slot 52with downward extensions at each end, as Shown in Fig. 5. When the slidestands with the holes in registration, the shank occupies one of thedownward extensions, and the slide remains in this positionnotwithstanding the movement .of the container until the knobis elevatedand moved longitudinally andv replaced in the other downward extensionof .the slot. In the latter position the holes are out of registrationand the ventilation openings are thereby closed. The slide is looselycarried by suiab e clips 56, 51, secured to the inner face of the n idedoor sheet, these clips holding the slide gainst the door sheet andguiding it, but with suicient freedom to allow it to be raisedsufliciently to Icarry the knob shank out of the slot depressions.

'I'he door of Figs. 7 to 11, inclusive. differs Yfrom that shown in thepreceding figures specically in thatthe depressions are staggered insuccessive vertical rows, clearly shown in Fig. 7.

.The proximity of the depressions accordingly prevents the employment ofsuch a controlling slide as shown in Fig. 5. In such case, I mayaccomplish the control, 'and *also stiien the door, by omitting thedepressions in the central region of the door, and mounting therein atransverse bar 60 secured to the opposite door panels and also to thevertical edge members 26, by Suitable rivets indicated at 6|. I make aseries of holes 62 vertically? through this stiiening bar. and I mounton tcp of the bar a sliding plate 6l which has openings which mayregister with the openings 62. 'A suitable handle 65,l secured to theslide 64 and extending through a slot 66 in the inner door plate,furnishes means for shifting the slide lengthwise thereof, the slidebeing locked in either extreme position by means of the handle engagingthe depression at the correspending end of the slot 66. Y A

The. construction :lust described makes the door stier and stronger,while adding very little to its weight,- and, at the sametime, providesan eiective closure operable at will from the inner face of the door.

Where it is desired to employ a truss plate door with the depressionsoverlapping, as in Fig. 7,. wlthout the central internal draft controller, I may control the draft by means of ,a plate 1l (Figs. 10 and11) secured to the external face of the inner door plate near the top.This plate 10 has openings 1I adapted to register with the openings-` 4|and it may be clamped against the door with the openings inregistration, or out of registration, as desired. The 'plate could befastened ineither position by screws, but, toenable ready adjustmentlwithout the removal of any part, I may make vertical slots 12 in theplate through which pass studs 'I5 carried by the door and ha'vingthreaded ends on which' are mounted wing nuts 16.l Normally, the plate10 stands as shown in Fig. 11, with the openings in registration, but,by loosening the wing nuts, it may be raised into the position shown inthe dotted lines and clamped in that location by the tightening of thenuts.

It will be seen that whichever mounting of the controlling slide isemployed, I have readily controllable openings through the door allowingthe entrance of airinto the lower portion of the door and its escapefrom the upper portion of the door into the container.- The slide, beingcontrolled in the inner side of v the door, cannot be disturbed afterthe door is closed.

My controlled ventilated-door accordingly renders the' containersuitable for summer and winter use and for the carrying of perishablelower portion of the outer plate to the interior of the door, an openingfrom the upper portion of the interior of the door, a cross brace withinthe door between the regions of the lower and upper openings, said crossbrace having an opening, a slide within the door for controlling thelatter opening, and means for operating the slide.

2. A door comprising a pair of metal plates 10 spaced apart, iler stripsbetween-the plates ad- 2,os4,vas e 3 jacent the margins, binding stripson the outer sides of the plates and across the outer edge of the illlerstrips whereby an enclosed chamber is made within the door, ventilationopenings in one face of the door adjacent the lower edge, ventilationopenings in the other face of the door adjacent the upper edge, and adraining passageway through the bottom ller strip and binding strip.

BENJAMIN F. I 1o

